


Plan B

by carolinecrane



Category: Ice Princess (2005)
Genre: Accidental Dating, F/F, Post-Canon, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:36:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5446778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gen walked away from her Plan A. Ann's Plan A just didn't work out, but Plan B's not always such a bad thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plan B

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rsadelle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rsadelle/gifts).



Every once in awhile Gen goes to a matinee by herself, just because she can. She doesn’t do it that often, because community college is still college in all the ways that matter. But she’s still getting used to having actual free time, and now that she’s single she doesn’t have to worry about spending it with anyone but herself.

Her mom’s too busy to worry about what she’s doing, and all of her friends are off at four-year colleges, living in dorms and eating cafeteria food and drinking too much. She doesn’t really miss them, mostly because she never saw them when they still lived in town. Back then her life was skating, nearly every waking minute of the day. Now…now her life is her own, and she’s having a pretty good time figuring out what to do with it.

After her last class of the day she drives across town to her favorite movie theater, the multiplex with theater seating and huge buckets of popcorn she wouldn’t have dreamed of eating when she was still skating. Now there’s no one stopping her, and her jeans are a little tighter than they used to be, but Gen thinks it looks pretty good on her.

She finds a parking spot and crosses the parking lot to the ticket booth, studying the electronic marquee before she decides on a movie and buys a ticket. It’s nothing she’s excited about seeing, just a romcom that’s been out for a couple weeks, but she doesn’t care so much about the movie she’s seeing as she does about being able to see a movie in the first place.

Once she has her ticket in hand she makes a beeline for the concession stand, but when she spots the person behind the counter she forgets about movies and popcorn. “Ann?”

Ann looks up, eyes wide as she recognizes Gen. Her hair’s a little longer, pulled back into a ponytail at the base of her neck. Her cheeks are flushed from the heat of the popcorn machine, but otherwise she looks pretty much the same as she did the last time they saw each other. Except that she’s wearing a movie theater uniform instead of a graduation gown, and when she spots Gen she glances down at it like maybe she’s embarrassed.

“Gen,” she says, “what are you doing here?”

Gen holds up her ticket, smiling when Ann laughs. “I think that’s my line, actually. I thought you were taking MIT by storm.”

Ann shakes her head, her smile fading. “I only got a partial scholarship, and I couldn’t swing the rest of the tuition.”

“Oh,” Gen says, because what else is there to say? “That sucks.”

“It’s not so bad,” Ann lies. “I'm taking a couple classes online through UMass and saving up until I can afford to go full time. it’s a lot cheaper. Plus it means I didn’t have to give up all this.” She gestures toward the snack bar and Gen laughs at her sarcastic expression.

“Could be worse,” Gen says. “They let you watch the movies for free, right?”

“That and all the popcorn we can eat,” Ann answers with a smile. “So what about you? What are you doing when you’re not watching movies?”

“I’m taking a few classes at the community college. It was too late to apply to a four-year school by the time I figured out whether or not I was actually going to graduate. But it’s good, gives me some time to figure out what I’m doing with my life.” She pauses, tilting her head to study Ann. “Really it’s thanks to you I’m in college at all. I never would have passed math without your help.”

Ann’s cheeks flush a darker shade of pink, and Gen decides it looks good on her. She turns away to fill a bucket of popcorn, then adds extra butter without Gen even having to ask. “Diet still?” Ann asks, glancing over her shoulder as she walks toward the soda fountain.

“Yeah,” Gen answers. She pulls some money out of her pocket while Ann fills the cup, but when she turns around and sees what Gen’s doing, she waves her off. “You sure?”

“I hardly ever use my free popcorn benefit,” Ann answers, but her voice is low and Gen’s pretty sure she’d get in trouble if somebody caught her comping a friend. “Someone might as well.”

“Thanks,” Gen says, pocketing her money before she reaches for the popcorn. “It was good to see you, Ann.”

“You too,” Ann says, smiling like she means it.

The next time Gen goes to the theater Ann’s working again. It’s the first matinee of the day, and the place is practically empty. She’s got a ticket to see an action movie – not her usual style, but she’s feeling adventurous – and when she spots Ann she smiles and heads straight for her.

“Hi,” Gen says, grinning when Ann looks up and blinks at her.

“You’re back.”

“Yeah, it’s the weirdest thing, they change the movies every few weeks.”

Ann blushes, ducking her head and flashing a smile that’s prettier than Gen remembers. Then again, most of the time they’ve spent together so far involved Ann explaining math and Gen wishing she would slip into a coma just so she wouldn’t need to learn about math anymore.

“No, I meant…it’s early,” Ann says, turning away to fill a bucket with popcorn. “Most people don’t bother with the early show.”

Gen leans on the counter to watch Ann pour her a soda. “I don’t have any classes today. And I like having the theater to myself. It’s kind of fun.”

Ann takes her money this time, carefully counting out her change before she hands it over. “What movie are you seeing?”

“ _War Of the Worlds_ ,” Gen answers. “Why, am I going to regret it?”

Ann shrugs and slides Gen’s popcorn and soda across the counter to her. “I hope not.”

“Thanks,” Gen says. It’s kind of a weird answer, but there are a couple more people in the lobby now, so she lets it go. “See you later.”

She’s the only person in the theater, so she picks a seat right in the center and puts her feet up. The previews are finished and the opening credits are starting to roll when she sees the sliver of light as the theater door opens and someone slips inside. Gen ignores the figure as they climb the stairs toward her, but when they turn into her row she leans forward and squints in the darkness until she recognizes Ann’s profile.

“What are you doing?” she asks as Ann slides into the seat next to her and sets her own giant soda in the cup holder.

“Taking my break early,” Ann answers. “I mean, unless you wanted to be alone.”

“No, stay,” Gen says. She shifts the popcorn bucket until it’s balanced between them and grins at Ann in the darkness. “Sure you’re not going to get in trouble?”

“Relax. I told you, then let us watch the movies when it’s slow.”

Ann grins at her, holding her gaze for just a beat longer than necessary before she looks away and slides something out of her pocket. “I almost forgot, my secret recipe.”

As she talks she opens a box of some kind of candy, then she dumps it into the popcorn before Gen can stop her. She shakes it up and then holds it out to Gen. “Try it.”

Gen raises her eyebrows, but she sticks her hand in the bucket and grabs a handful. It tastes like salt and fake movie theater butter and warm chocolate, and she closes her eyes for a second before she looks over at Ann again.

“M&Ms,” Ann answers with a little shrug. “They get kind of melty in the popcorn. Amazing, right?”

“I think you’ve just created a monster,” Gen answers as she grabs another handful and settles in to watch Tom Cruise save the world.

The movie’s not great, and Ann has to leave a few times to make sure the place isn’t burning down without her, but it’s kind of fun anyway. Almost like a date, not that Gen would say that out loud. Still, Ann’s the one who blew off work to hang out with her, and she kept coming back even though she had a great excuse not to.

She’s gone when the movie ends, so Gen tosses the rest of the popcorn and half her soda and heads back out to the concession stand to say goodbye. There’s a line now and the lobby’s starting to fill up with the afternoon crowd, so all Gen gets is a wave and a smile before Ann turns back to her customers. It’s not how she expected her morning to go, but she’s definitely not complaining.

The next time Gen shows up at the theater the concession stand is being manned by some kid Gen vaguely recognizes from high school. She scans the lobby for any sign of Ann, and when she doesn’t see her she tells herself she’s not disappointed. She’s not, because it wasn’t like Gen asked when she’d be working. She’s kicking herself for not doing exactly that when she reaches her theater and finds Ann standing by the door holding one of those little floor sweeper things they’re always cleaning the theaters with.

“Hi,” Gen says, ignoring the way her heart speeds up when Ann looks up at her.

“Hi yourself,” Ann says, and yeah, her cheeks are pink, but she looks happy to see Gen. “Are you writing movie reviews in your spare time or something?”

Gen laughs and shakes her head. “Believe it or not, the novelty of having actual spare time hasn’t worn off yet. I guess I’m trying to make up for lost time.”

Ann nods as though that makes sense and nods in the direction of the theater. “You better go get a seat before all the good ones are gone. You’re here later than usual.”

It’s true that Gen doesn’t usually go to the movies at night, but she’s not about to admit that she’s only here because she was hoping to run into Ann. They’re friends, sort of, so if Gen wants to hang out with her, all she has to do is ask. Except she’s starting to wonder if maybe they could be a little more than friends, and she thinks maybe Ann’s been wondering too.

She knows Ann probably won’t be able to get away tonight, because the theater’s a lot busier now than it is at the 11:20 showing on a Tuesday morning. But she takes a seat next to the aisle anyway, settling her jacket carefully in the seat next to her, just in case. The theater’s about half full by the time the previews start playing. Gen balances her popcorn on her lap and opens a box of M&Ms, pouring the whole thing in before she shakes the bucket to mix everything together.

Twenty minutes into the movie someone picks up her jacket and slides into the seat next to her, and Gen glances over to find Ann grinning and reaching out to steal a handful of popcorn. Gen watches as she pops the handful into her mouth, sees the moment she realizes Gen stole her ‘secret recipe’ and grins as Ann’s eyes go wide.

“Like I said, you created a monster,” Gen whispers, leaning close so she won’t bother anyone around them.

They both turn back to the movie, but Gen isn’t paying much attention to the story line, and she has a feeling Ann isn’t either. Every so often when they both reach for popcorn at the same time their fingers brush together, and Gen wishes it wasn’t so dark in the theater so she could see Ann’s blush every time it happens.

She stays for the entire movie, which Gen wasn’t expecting. Once the final credits start rolling and the theater begins to empty out Gen looks over to find Ann watching her, shy all of a sudden like she’s not sure Gen wants her there. Which is crazy, but Gen doesn’t say so.

“I figured you’d ditch me after a while.”

Ann shakes her head, a little wisp of hair falling loose from her ponytail to cascade over her forehead, and Gen doesn’t try to stop herself from reaching out and pushing it away from her face. “My shift ended about ten minutes after you got here.”

Which means Ann stuck around to hang out with her instead of going home after a long shift. Gen smiles and stands up, then she holds out a hand to pull Ann out of her seat. They walk out of the theater together, and Gen waits around in the lobby while Ann goes back to the employee break room to get her coat and purse. It’s not that late, but the sun’s down already and there’s a chill in the air that says winter’s here.

Gen tugs her jacket a little closer and lets out a theatrical shiver. “This weather always gives me flashbacks to 5:00 am skating practices.”

Ann grins at that and tugs her own coat closed around her neck. “Do you see Casey much?”

“Not really,” Gen answers. “I mean, I hear how she’s doing from my mom, but mostly they spend all their time at the rink. I don’t see my mom all that much either, especially during competition season.”

Ann nods and ducks her head a little, like maybe she’s feeling shy all of a sudden. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Shoot,” Gen says. They reach her car and she stops walking, leaning against it to face Ann.

“How come you always come here alone?”

“Like I said, I’m still not over the fact that I _can_ come here.” Gen grins when Ann laughs, but as dumb as it sounds, it’s the truth. “Anyway, it’s not like I have a whole lot of options. Almost everyone we know left town after graduation.”

“What happened to your boyfriend?” Ann asks, the words spilling out of her in a rush, like she wasn’t planning to say them.

That’s a question Gen asked herself for a while after things with Brian fell apart. The fact that she wasn’t that sad about it told her it probably wasn’t much of a relationship to begin with, and once she had the time to start thinking about what she really wanted, a boyfriend wasn’t even on the list.

“The truth? We made a lot of sense on paper, but once I quit skating and we actually started spending time together, we didn’t have a whole lot in common.”

“Oh," Ann says, her smile bright. "Well, I guess it’s good that you figured it out before things got serious.”

Gen wants to laugh at the idea of getting serious with Brian, but instead she smiles and reaches out to tug at the lapel of Ann’s coat. “Listen, do you want to come over to my place sometime and hang out? You know, eat pizza, watch a whole movie this time…”

Ann blushes again, but she’s grinning when she says, “You’re not just looking for more math help, are you?”

“I’m not even taking math this semester, I swear.” Gen has a feeling her smile is a little on the smug side, but if the way Ann’s smiling back at her is any indication, she doesn’t mind.

“Saturday’s my day off.”

“Perfect.” Gen sways a little closer and reaches up to curve her fingers around Ann’s cheek. She looks a little nervous, but she doesn’t move away, so Gen leans in and brushes a soft kiss across her lips. “It’s a date.”


End file.
